Jules michaud



(No Model.) 2 shets-sheet 1'.

J. MIGHAUD. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF PLATES FOR COLORPRINTING. No. 543,040. Patented July 23, 1895.

v I IF -.1- Q

DQ ,w

4 2T .L-J a if E 5W FIB;

Fig.7. 5 r ya Winessew- Inventor:-

. Jay,-

A liar-nay,

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. v J. MIOHAUD. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FORPRODUCTION OF PLATES FOR COLOR PRINTING.

Patented July 23, 1895.

JAI IHUOL JOURNAL Aliorney.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JULES MICHAUD, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF PLATES FOR COLOR-PRINTING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 543,040, dated July 23,1895.

Application filed August 4,1892. Renewed June 17, 1895. Serial No.553,152- (No model.) Patented in France October 28, 1890, No. 209,139,and in England October 30,1890,No. 17,382, and April 8, 1892, No. 6,782.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULES MIOHAUD, a citizen of the Republic of France,residing at 96 Rue dAssas, Paris, France, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in the Method of and Apparatus for the Production ofPlates for Color-Printing, (for which I have obtained patents in GreatBritain, No. 17 ,382, dated October 30, 1890, and No. 6,782, dated April8, 1892, and in France, No. 209,139, dated October 28, 1890, with threecertificates of addition thereto, dated, respectively, July '17, 1891,January 19, 1892, and January 23,1892,) of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in the means employed for producingdifierent plates, such as zinc, galvano process, or other platesintended for printing in several colors, and, especially for printing onrotary machines, and also to a new method of soldering engraved platesto the printing-plates produced in casting-boxes.

The means hitherto employed for fixing zinc, galvano, or other engravedplates to a printing.

curved printing-plate, so as to print engravings and letter-press at thesame time, would not afford sufficient exactitude to prepare thedifferent plates which are to serve for color- In order to afford thegreatest pre-v cision I haveinvented the method hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a framefor taking the matrix of a page in which engravings are to be inserted.Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of acasting-box for producing the printing-plates. Fig. 4 is a plan view ofan apparatus for piercing holes in the engraved plates, and Fig. 5 is atransverse section thereof. Fig. 6 is a plan view of an apparatus forchecking the engraved plates to be used for printing different colors,so as to see that the holes formed therein correspond exactly5and Fig. 7is avertical section thereof. Fig. 8 represents a frame with the formand block placed therein, the block occupying the place of theengraving. Fig.

9 represents the matrix produced thereupon and provided with holes a.Fig. 10 is a Vertical section of a casting-box provided with the fixedpins or studs which may be either at ac'or Fig. 11 isva similar viewrepresenting the engraved plate 3 placed on the matrix in thecasting-box, and on this engraved plate springs are shown on which thecover will bear-when the casting-box is closed. Fig. 12 is a similarview representing a modification, showing strips of metal placed on theback of the engraved plate in the place of the springs. Fig. 13 is asimilar view showing another modification, showing projecting pointsfixed to the cover of the casting-box and which bearing on the engravedplates 3 when the casting-box is closed serve the same purpose as thesprings 5 or the strips of metal 7. Fig. 14. is a perspective viewshowing the cast printing-plate with the engraved plate 3 solderedthereto. The part 9 having the holes therein serves to place theengraved plate in position in the mold on the fixed pins or studs 00'and will be cut off before fixing the printing-plate on the cylinder ofthe printing-machine.

Similar letters and numerals of reference indicate corresponding partsin the different figures. v

In the case where the engraved plateis to be placed in position in theprinting-plate so that one edge of such engraved plate is to be at oneedge of the printing-plate, I make a matrix of the page which is tocontain the letter-press and the engraving in the ordin ary manner, butin a special frame M, Figs. 1 and 2, in which holes a a are pierced,which are to appear in the matrix outside the impression part of theplate, so as to serve as adjusting-points and also holes I) b, which areto serve as guides forabar C carrying punches C. A block 1 is placed inthe form to cover said matrix where the engraving is to be. Theletter-press impression on the matrix having been taken and dried in theordinary way, when dry and before removing it from the form, I'pierceholes a atherethrough by means of the bar 0 and its punches O.

The matrix produced as above described is placed in the casting-box,which, as shown in Fig. 3, has projecting pins a a occupying positionsexactly corresponding to the holes formed in the matrix by the punches OO.

These pins a a of the casting-box may be fixed or movable, as shown.They will be fixed when the construction of the casting-box will allowsame to be opened after casting without enlarging the holes of thematrixg'aud they will be movable-that is to say, capable of disappearingwhen the casting-box is opened--if it is unadvisable to leave themprojecting at the moment of opening.

I may when possible place the pins of the castingbox at a", so that theyare situated at the part of the plate which will be cut oif by the sawand thus simplify the work, the cutting off of the jet or runner thenproducing a finished plate without having to cut off the small band orstrip in which the holes for the pinsare formed, such band or stripbeing hereinafter referred to. I may further use both the pins a and a"if there is any advantage in so doing.

When fixed pins or studs are used they are screwed into the casting-box,as shown at x in Fig. 3.

I prepare the engraved plate so that upon the side corresponding to theedge of the matrix in which the holes a a are formed it has a strip ofmetal with holes exactly corresponding with those of the matrix, suchholes being produced in any suitable manner. The back of the engravedplates thus prepared are tinned or soldered, so as to cause them tobecome soldered to the printing-plate when cast. Then the printing-plateis curved as required and placed in the casting-box over the blank partof the matrix, great care be- .ing taken to place itso that the holesformed therein pass over the pins as or a in the casting-box. Upon thisengraved plate, tinned or soldered on its back,I place either springs 5,as shown in Fig. 11, or strips of metal 7, as shown in Fig. 12,01, (whatwould answer the same purpose,) I place on the cover of the casting-boxaseries of small projecting points 8, as shown in Fig. 13, of such adepth that they will bear on the back of the engraved plate so as topress it well against the matrix, and consequently also cause the latterto bear well against the bottom of the casting-box. I then run in themetal and thus obtain a first plate having the engravings and theletterpress or text, which are to be of the same color as shown in Fig.14, the engraved plate being sunk and embedded in the printed plate andfused thereto, so that the surface of the engraved plate is on a levelwith the letter-press impression of the printing-plate. To obtain theengraved plates for the other colors without the letter-pressimpressions, I place a sheet of cardboard of the same thickness as thematrix in the casting-box, having removed the matrix, and over thissheetl place the plate for one of the colors, still making use of thepins in the casting-box for placing the engraved plate in positiontherein. The engraved plate is caused to bear on the cardboard and thelatter on the bottom of the casting-box, as be- Mamie fore, andl thenrun in the metal and the en graved plate is fused to the printing-plate,so that the printing-plate has only an engraved surface without aletter-press surface, said printing-plate thus forming the second plate.The operation is repeated for each color, and I obtain curved plates allof exactlythe same height and development, and further all bearing theengraving in exactly the same position in the plates. 1

To avoid the necessityof having to remove the parts of the finishedprinting-plates not carrying letter-press, I stick on the cardboardwhich replaces the matrix where the letterpress parts are thicknesses ofcardboard, so as to obtain sunken parts in the printing-plates at thepoints which are not to be inked.

Before placing the plates in the machine the strip of metal which isoutside the impression part and in which the holes to receive the pinsof the casting box are formed must be removed from each if the same hasnot been removed with the jet or runner.

The engraved plates may be tinned or soldered in the ordinary mannerbefore placing them in the casting-box, but I have invented a new methodof effecting this which renders the operation very easy.

I employ sheets of rolled metal, such as tin, an alloy of tin and lead,or of tin, lead, and bismuth, or any other suitable alloy used forsoldering. The nature of this metal is varied according to whether itneeds to be more or less easily fused. In order to produce ellicientsoldering it is only requisite to apply such sheets by means of stearinor other analogous material to the parts to be soldered, and to placethe plates when thus prepared and heated in the casting-box. When thematerial which produces the plate for printing and which serves as abacking has been run on the top of these engraved plates a perfectsoldering will'have been obtained. With these sheets the soldering maybe offected just as readily before as after the plates are curved, whichis a great advantage.

These sheets may be employed for soldering zinc, copper, galvano, orother kind of plates. They may be equally well employed for solderingthe shells of galvanos, sister the second soldering which is necessarywhen galvanos are employed which, although already backed, are notsufficiently thick to be used on a rotary press. In the latter case,when it is desired to employ a hacked galvano having a thickness of fromthree to four millimeters, for example, same is heated, curved, and thensoldered again by rubbing the back with stearin and applying a sheetofthe fusible material thereto, when by placing it in the casting-box andrunning the metal therein a curved plate will be obtained having thenecessary thickness for a rotary machine.

The stearin being spread over the engraved plate and heated on theopposite side to that bearing the engraving serves to cause the sheet oftin, which is subsequently applied, to

adhere thereto, and further it is found that its presence facilitatesthe soldering.

When a galvano, which has already received a backing of-from three tofour millimeters in thickness, is to be used in a printing-plate of fromten to twelve millimeters, the sheet of fusible metal applied theretobeing less than a half of a millimeter in thickness will not produce theincreased thickness necessary, but, as is described,will facilitate thesoldering between the metal already applied to the 'galvano and whichgives it a thickness of from three to four millimeters, and the metal,which when run into the casting-box on the curved galvano, will bybecoming soldered to the first metal give the necessary thickness offrom ten to twelve millimeters.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I show a special apparatus which I may employ forforming the holes in the engraved plates to enable the same tobe placedin the proper position in the castingbox. When the plate has been placedon the block P by means of the adjusting points a a, it is held firmlyby a recessed bar R by means of screws and handles D D, so that itcannot shift. The bar R and the block P are pierced with holes a aexactly corresponding with those pierced in the matrix and with the pinsin the casting-box, and the punches R are caused to work through theholes in the bar R and enter those in-the block P, thus formingcorresponding holes in the plate held upon such block.

Before tinning or soldering and curving the engraved plates it is Veryimportant to well check the plates for the different colors to see thatthey correspond exactly with regard to the holes formed in each, and inorder to effect this I employ a machine which enables this to be donewith certainty. This apparatus consists of a bed or block E, Figs. 6 and7, on which I place two spring-pins a a which areexactly the samedistance apart as the holes formed in the engraved plates, and Isuccessively place the engraved plates upon the block, taking care topass the holes in such plates over the pins of the block. In taking animpression the pins recede, but without leaving the plates, thuspreventing shifting.

For taking a proof I place the block E in a press, and upon the frisketor the cylinder of the press I place a sheet of paper, so that it canreceive several impressions without being able to shift, and upon suchsheet I take the different impressions by changing the plates on block Ein succession If, for example, four colors are to be producedyellow,red, blue, and black-the yellow plate being placed on the block E .andinked,I take the yellow impression. I then replace the yellow plate bythe red, ink same, and take a new impression. I then do the same for theblue and black plates. If the plates correspond well and the pin-holesare properly pierced, I ought to obtain a perfect register on the sheet,and I have thus a very exact means of checking the plates beforeproceeding to submit such plates to the different operations.

The invention is more particularly applicable to rotaryprinting-presses, because the mold shown for producing theprinting-plates is cylindrical. The production of two or more of suchcylindrical printing-plates for colorprinting presents more difficultyto enable a correct register to be obtained than is the case whendealing with fiat printing-plates.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a testing block for printing plates, the combination of a blockhaving recesses therein, spiral springs resting on the bottom of saidrecesses, pins projecting above said recesses and provided with collarsresting on said springs said pins being adapted to enter holes in theprinting plates.

2. ha device for forming holes in an engraved plate, the combination ofa block provided with holes near one side, a recessed bar resting on oneside thereof, means comprising a screw and a handle for adj ustablypressing said bar against said block so that said bar can be raised andlowered for the insertion of a plate under the recess thereof, said barbeing provided with holes registering with the holes in the block, andpunches for working in said holes in. the bar and block.

ICO

3. The art of making a printing plate con-' taining letter press andillustrative matter consisting in forming a matrix, the molding face ofwhich is in part plain and in part letter press, then placing anengraved plate over the plain portion of said'matrix, then applyin g tothe back of said engraved plate a sheet of metal fusible at a lowertemperature than the metal of the engraved plate, then casting aprinting plate over the letter press portion of said matrix and oversaid engraved plate, the engraved plate being embedded in and unitedwith the body of the printing plate flush with the letter press matterthereof.

4. The method of making a printing plate for register printingin colorsof an area corresponding to another printing plate having IIO to theletter press in the original plate, plac ing in the depressed portion ofsaid mold an engraved plate, and casting over the back of said engravedplate and over the raised portion of said mold a printing plate in whichthe said engraved plate is embedded.

5. The method of making a printing plate for register printing colors ofan area corpart of the printing plate which corresponds ing plate inwhich the said engraved plate is to the letter press in the originalplate, placembedded. ing in the depressed portion of said mold anengraved plate having registering devices, JULES MICHAUD' Witnesses:

R0131. M. HOOPER, I. CHATEL.

5 outside the printing surface thereof, and casting over the back ofsaid engraved plate and over the raised portion of said mold a print-

